William Shakespeare
JOSEPH TOWERS (1737-1799)
British biography: or, an accurate and impartial account of the lives and writings of eminent persons in Great Britain and Ireland: from Wickliff, who begun the Reformation by his writings, to the present time: whether statesmen, patriots, generals, admirals, philosophers, poets, lawyers, or divines
London: Printed for R. Goadby, 1766-1780
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)
The plays and poems of William Shakespeare: in sixteen volumes collated verbatim with the most authentick copies, and revised: with the corrections and illustrations of various commentators; to which are added, an essay on the chronological order of his plays; an essay relative to Shakespeare and Jonson; a dissertation on the three parts of King Henry VI, an historical account of the English stage, and notes
Dublin: Printed by J. Exshaw, 1794
One of the best of the early critical editions. Edited by Edmond Malone, with contributions from Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), George Steevens (1736-1800), Alexander Pope (1688-1744), and Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718).
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)
The plays of William Shakspeare, accurately printed from the text of the corrected copy left by the late George Steevens, Esq., with glossarial notes, in nine volumes
London: Printed for J. Johnson ... 1803
“Mr. Rowe’s Account of the life and writings of Shakespeare is prefixed”--P. [i]. Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718), dramatist and poet laureate, is considered the first editor of Shakespeare, publishing his edition in 1709, based unfortunately on the corrupt fourth folio. His Some Account of the Life &c. of Mr. William Shakespear was reprinted into the 19th century. George Steevens (1736-1800) was a better editor. He collaborated with Samuel Johnson on The Plays of Shakespeare with the Corrections and Illustrations of Various Commentators (10 vols., 1773), known as the first variorum edition.
Gift of Anne Milner Fields, 2003
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)
William Shakespeare’s complete works, dramatic and poetic; the text from the corrected ocpy of the late George Steevens, Esq. with glossorial notes and a sketch of the author’s life. Copiously illustrated.
Hartford: Silas Andrus and Son, 1853.
This mid-19th century volume is a testament to Shakespeare as monument: red leather, embossed gilt decorative frame surrounding the bust of the immortal bard. The sketch of the life herein is very brief—only 2 pages—and appears to have been taken from Alexander Chalmers’s edition of 1805.
MARK TWAIN (1835-1910)
Is Shakespeare dead?
New York: Harper & Bros., 1909
Twain was on the side of the Baconians in the Shakespeare-Bacon Controversy and he explains why in this essay, with its delightfully impish title.
Gift of Ludwig Michael, 2005
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)
The poems of Shakespeare: Venus and Adonis, the rape of Lucrece, the sonnets, A lover’s complaint, the passionate pilgrim, the phoenix and turtle
Stamford, Conn.: Overbrook Press, 1939
“This edition ... follows the text of the complete works edited by George Lyman Kittredge ... one hundred and fifty copies have been printed.” Kittredge (1860-1941) was a legendary Harvard professor, teaching among many others, Stanley Marcus.
From the collection of Stanley Marcus. Gift of Linda Marcus, 2003.
A.L. ROWSE (1903-1997)
William Shakespeare: A Biography
New York: Harper & Row, 1963
STANLEY WELLS (b. 1930)
Shakespeare: for all time
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003
Both a biography and a study of Shakespeare’s reception and reputation through the centuries. Nine chapters: 1. Shakespeare and Stratford 2. Shakespeare in London 3. Shakespeare the writer 4. The growth of the legend: 1623-1744 5. The age of Garrick: Shakespeare celebrated: 1741-1789 6. Regency and romanticism: 1789-1843 7. Victorian Shakespeare: 1843-1904 8. From Victoria to Elizabeth: 1903-1952 9. Shakespeare worldwide.